What to get right
- Good is a real fix. The cheapest option has to solve today’s problem. If it doesn’t, it isn’t an option.
- Better prevents the next call. A capacitor plus a contactor. A flapper plus a fill valve. A breaker replacement plus tightened connections in the panel.
- Best can include the membership. Upgrades or a maintenance plan, priced from the book, with member pricing if your plan works that way.
- Every price comes from the book. Never make up a number on the spot for one option. All three come from the same price book.
The prompt
This is the Build good/better/best options workflow, word for word. Copy it, fill in the [brackets], and paste it into the AI tool your company uses.
Help me build 3 options for a homeowner.
Problem: [found]
Good: [minimum fix]
Better: [fix + prevent the next failure]
Best: [fix + upgrades/membership]
Prices (from our price book): [$, $, $]
Short plain-English description for each, what's included, and why someone would choose it. Fill it in with the prompt builder → Open the full workflow
How to use it
- Write down the problem in one line.
- Pick the three options and pull each price from your price book.
- Run the prompt on your phone before you walk back inside.
- Present all three and let the homeowner choose.
- Note which option they picked so the service manager can see patterns.
A tool that can help
Optional. The prompt works without any of these.
Housecall Pro
Field service softwareHow it fits here: Its Basic plan lists a price book and Essentials adds flat-rate pricing, so every tech pulls the three options from the same prices.
Pricing: Basic from $59/mo billed annually; Essentials (5 users) and Max (8 users) cost more. 14-day free trial of Max, no credit card. Checked Oct 2026
Related workflows
Questions shops ask
Does good, better, best work for plumbing and electrical?
Yes. The structure is the same: minimum fix, fix plus prevention, fix plus upgrade. A water heater repair, a panel problem or a drain line all fit.
Isn’t three options just upselling?
Not if the cheapest option is a real fix and you explain each one honestly. The homeowner decides how far to go, which is the opposite of pressure.
Should the membership be one of the options?
It can be part of the top option, or offered on its own at the end of the call. Don’t make it the only way to get a fair price on the repair.
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